if i make the tracklisting an image file rather than a text/html file will
that stop bots from searching it?
james
www.jbucknell.com
D B
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]
thms.com> To
313 Org <313@hyperreal.org>
15/10/04 08:30 AM cc
Subject
Re: (313) Emotion Electric shutdown
Hi All,
First off, I have to say this does, suck. I enjoyed your site very much.
This type of activity has been happening for quite sometime, at least on
the US front. The RIAA, ASCAP, & BMI all have spider bots that patrol
the web
and compare what they find to their database of registered users and
songs, and
then contact offending parties on the artists behalf, as their
representative.
So it probably wasn't the guys from Nu Groove, going... "I'm going to get
that Emotion Electric guy", as compared to that a bot, or a representative
(I see plenty of visits from BMI.org and ASCAP.org in my webserver logs)
comparing playlists to the databases and getting a positive match. Which
is ironic
as if you didn't list a playlist, then you'll probably get a harder time
getting caught,
then if you do, but listing the playlists have always been helpful in
sales for
dance music.
They can get especially nasty to the people who have downloadable content
as compared to just streaming, as they view that the same as Soulseek or
the old Napster,
or even the recent Jetgroove fiasco, as copyright issues don't care if
you're making
money at it, or giving it away, as the punishments are the same,
regardless of money
that is made or not. They'll usually go to the ISP and tell them that
they'll
be sued as well, unless they pull the plug on the host.
The only real resolution, to being able to host or webcast what you
want, is
to contact each and every individual copyright owner of the physical media
as well as copyright owner of the composition and publishing owner for
every work that you wish to obtain, and get written permission that you are
allowed to provide downloads (via seperate mp3/wave or in a mix, a
download is a download
from the RIAA perspective) of their music and/or webcasts of their
music. If you
do not get this, then you are subject to VERY heavy fines (up to
$150,000 per copyright
infringement, so with a mix of let's say 10 songs for download, you are
lookning at a
possibility 1.5 million dollars in fines and 6 years in jail), with only
1 exception
for webcasters. So even if for example Jeff Mills said that it's alright
for me to
webcast his music, I would actually need to contact 3 seperate company's
or people
in order to legally webcast or allow downloads. Sometimes this can be
the same
person, but many times it is not, for example, one of Jeff's records' on
Tresor, you
would also have to get Tresor's permission as well. Obviously this is a
nightmare
of Red Tape to do. The 1 exception that I know of that is available for
Webcastors
(so wouldn't even address Emotion Electric's issues, as they were
downloaded mixes
correct?), is one can obtain a statuatory license. It was created by the
Digital Millennium Copyright Act. And this statuatory license doesn't
come without
a set of rules:
Sound recording performance complement. A webcaster may not play in any
three-hour period...
• more than three songs from a particular album, including no more than
two consecutively, or
• four songs by a particular artist or from a boxed set, including no
more than three consecutively.
This limit is called the "sound recording performance complement."
These are just a few of the RULES that one must comply by in order to
have a statuatory
license. If not, then you can have the fun job of getting each
individual copyright
and publishing owners written permission. Now imagine these rules if
you're broadcasting
an party live, and tell Jeff Mills, that he can't play more then 4 of
his songs in the
3 hour set, unless, he can verify that he owns both copyrights and the
publishing rights to
them and agrees to sign a contract saying that you can broadcast them.
With the fact that the RIAA has gone after 10 year olds with Multi
Million dollar
lawsuits here in America, means that really, nobody is protected.
As to the suggestion of hosting the site in Russia... .don't let anybody
know about
that either, if you really want to do it. As the actual act of uploading
the files
from your computer in the US or UK to the servers in Russia, is breaking
the same
copyrights.
Now don't intrepet these as MY feelings and thoughts. We've done quite a
bit of webcasting in the
past, and currently you will only hear Live acts on our webcasting
services. These are the RIAA's perspective.
I know the BPI is different, but they work together, and I know the
American copyright,
has some connection to International Copyright. Not that they are going
to go after
you for these amount of money, but if they do , they will go after these
kind of fines,
and will give you an option out, if you sign this paper, agreeing that
you'll never
do anything like this again, or you'll kindly accept everything that's
thrown at you.
Below is some of the RIAA wording, that actually answers many of the
questions and statements
that came up in this thread.
Happy reading,
Dave
http://www.riaa.com/issues/music/downup_faq.asp
What can happen to me if I am caught infringing a copyright law?
If found guilty of copyright infringement, federal law provides for
civil remedies that may include substantial monetary damages and
liability for attorney fees incurred in bringing an action. Criminal
penalties may be imposed if someone willfully infringes a copyrighted
work, even if no profit is derived from the activity. Thus, people who
barter, trade or even give away copies of infringing works may still be
criminally liable and subject to prosecution.
The No Electronic Theft (NET) Act specifically outlaws this activity on
the Internet. Criminal penalties for copyright infringement include up
to six years imprisonment, up to $250,000 in fines, or both. Students
may also be subject to disciplinary action at their school, by the
school’s own faculty, if it is determined that school computer policies
have been violated. Read more about copyright law.
How can I legally put music on the Internet?
The answer to this question may depend on how you propose to use these
works. For example, if you plan to offer a webcasting service, you may
be eligible for a statutory webcasting license whereas if you plan to
offer an interactive service, you will need to obtain rights from each
copyright holder. Read more about licensing.
In general, if you want to reproduce, distribute, and digitally transmit
recorded music online, you will likely need licenses from several
organizations and companies. For example, for the copyright in the sound
recording (the song as it’s recorded), you’d need a license from the
copyright owner, typically the record company, or for an artist owned
company, from the artist. For the copyright in the musical composition
(the song itself), you might need a "DPD" (or Digital Phonorecord
Delivery) license from an organization such as the Harry Fox Agency and
you might need a license from the performance rights organization that
represents the songwriters, typically BMI, ASCAP, or SESAC. You can
usually find who you’d need to contact by looking at the liner notes
from the CD of the artist you are interested in reproducing and/or
distributing.
Is it illegal to post music on a website for downloading even if I don’t
charge for it?
Yes. The question of whether or not you are charging does not impact the
answer to whether or not you are violating copyright law. If you don't
hold the copyright, you can't sell or even give away unauthorized copies
of the sound recording without permission. In addition, the No
Electronic Theft ("NET") Act, which amended Section 506 of the Copyright
Act, clarified that even if a site barters or trades infringing
materials and doesn’t charge or otherwise make a profit there still may
even be criminal liability. Additionally, you may face civil liability,
including statutory damages of up to $150,000 per copyright
infringement, even if you’re just giving away the files.
Can I offer music for download from my site without permission from the
copyright owners if disclaimers are posted on the site that say
"promotional use only," "buy the CD," "educational use only," etc?
No. If you reproduce and/or distribute sound recordings without a
license, you are violating copyright law no matter what your website says.
If I just download sound recordings, is it still a copyright violation?
Yes. It is a violation if you upload or download full-length sound
recordings without permission of the copyright owners. You should assume
other people's works are copyrighted and can't be copied unless you know
otherwise
The digital music files I upload/download are less than CD-quality.
Doesn’t this make it OK to copy and trade?
The quality and file format of a recording has nothing to do with
whether a copyright is infringed. Whether the sound quality is good or
not is beside the point. To make reproductions and/or distributions of
sound recordings, regardless of sound quality, you need the
authorization of the sound recording copyright owner.
Does moving an unauthorized music site to a server outside the U.S. make
it legal?
U.S. law may well apply when the uploading and/or downloading takes
place in the United States, even if the server is physically located in
another country. Additionally, the copyright laws of foreign countries
are, in many cases, similar to those in the United States. U.S. trade
law allows the Office of the United States Trade Representative to take
action against those countries that fail to provide adequate and
effective copyright protection and market access.
robin wrote:
> hi all,
>
> so, i've been contacted by the BPI (www.bpi.co.uk) and they've shut
> the site down because of my alleged trade in copyright material.
>
> all the stuff on the site was dj mixes (promotional) so if you have a
> similar site then just watch yer backs.
>
> *we will be back*
>
> robin...
>
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